How to keep your hands and feet feeling soft

Due to everyday exposure to the elements, our hands and feet often need extra help to keep them soft and supple. Read on for tips on how to keep your hands and feet moisturised and protected.

What can you do to keep your hands soft?

In an effort to keep our hands clean, constantly washing them can actually strip moisture from our skin. Frequently drying hands under a hot-air dryer can also add to the problem. To combat dryness use tissue or a towel instead, making sure to moisturise your hands with a hand cream or lotion afterwards.

In addition to hand washing, gardening, household chores and manual labour can often leave our hands vulnerable to becoming dry, rough, or developing calluses. Gloves are the simplest way to protect them from the harsh effects of water, heat and cold air.

How can you soften your feet?

Unlike the rest of our bodies, our feet have no oil glands which means they are at risk of being rougher and dryer than skin in other areas. Regular moisturising is the key to stopping cracked or hardened areas of skin forming on our feet. To keep skin soft and hydrated, take the first step by applying a cream or foot lotion every day.

Will exfoliation help keep dryness at bay?

Exfoliating regularly ensures that dry, dull skin is buffed away to reveal fresher, smoother skin. Once or twice a week, treat your hands and feet to an exfoliating treatment in the shower. Foot files, foot scrubs or pumice stones are fine for your feet but may be too coarse for the delicate skin on our hands. Instead use hand or facial scrubs which have gentler formulations. Always follow with a moisturiser to lock in softness and refresh the skin.

What causes the hands to age?

After facing years of use, the skin on our hands often begins to show signs of aging. The most obvious signs include age spots, thin skin and prominent veins. Neglecting to regularly moisturise and protect the delicate skin on our hands can mean they have little defence against the elements.

How can I make my hands look more youthful?

Protecting our hands against the sun’s ultraviolet (UVA) rays and keeping them moisturised is the key. After years of exposure to UVA rays, age spots and wrinkles can appear on the backs of our hands and other areas like the back of the neck.

Wearing a broad spectrum sunscreen throughout the year will help prevent new spots from forming and encourages any existing dark areas to fade away. Even in winter, apply sunscreen to the backs of your hands along with your hand cream or wear gloves for total protection.

As we age, our skin tone and thickness changes. The fat on the back of our hands reduces over time leaving us with thinner skin and more visible veins. Although surgical treatments are often the most effective treatment for hand veins, moisturisers and serums enriched with collagen and vitamins may help to make your skin look plumper and more youthful.